1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a disk recording medium and a disk drive apparatus preferably being applicable to a medium such as Compact Disk-Recordable (CD-R) and Compact Disk-Rewritable (CD-RW). More specifically, this invention relates to a disk recording medium, which can be correctly handled on the basis of disk-compatibility information recorded on it, and a disk drive apparatus for driving such the disk recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disk recording medium such as CD-R and CD-RW may record data. CD-R is a write-once optical disk using dyed color organic material as recording layer and is compatible with Compact Disk medium (CD). CD-RW is an optical disk allowing data to be written thereon or to be erased therefrom with making a phase change of recording layer in use.
It has been considered to increase a liner velocity, when recording the data on these disks recording media, in order to accelerate their writing time. In a case of the above CD-RW, since its recording layer comprises phase changeable layer for implementing the writing and erasure of data, characteristics of the phase changeable layer necessary to write the data effectively vary according to the liner velocity when recording. When the liner velocity is increased, CD-RW for slow storage (slow CD-RW) having a recording layer for slow storage is unavailable. This brings about changes that CD-RW for fast storage (fast CD-RW) having a recording layer for fast storage is available in this case.
If such the fast CD-RW is so constructed that its pregroove can be made like the same of the slow CD-RW to reduce their differences, with taking its disk-compatibility in consideration, it is impossible to distinguish one from another. Under this condition, when the fast CD-RW is erroneously loaded onto a CD-RW drive apparatus for the slow CD-RW, the apparatus may slowly writes the data on the fast CD-RW. This causes the apparatus to fail to write the data in it and results in failure such as crash of recording layer. The same goes for the above CD-R case.
Accordingly, this invention solves these problems of the related art and an object of the invention is to provide a disk recording medium and so on allowing its correct handling due to its disk-compatibility information.
According to a first aspect of the invention, we provide a disk recording medium including a pregroove on which control information is recorded. The information comprises disk-compatibility information.
According to a second aspect of the invention, we also provide a disk recording medium including subcode data. The subcode data comprises disk-compatibility information.
Further, according to a third aspect of the invention, we also provide a disk drive apparatus for driving a disk recording medium on which disk-compatibility information is recorded. The apparatus comprises reproducing part for reproducing the disk-compatibility information from the disk recording medium and control part for controlling handling of the disk recording medium on the basis of the reproduced disk-compatibility information.
According to an embodiment of this invention, the disk recording medium may store disk-compatibility information. For example, the medium stores control information including the disk-compatibility information along a pregroove. Alternatively, it may store subcode data including the disk-compatibility information.
Such the control information storage on the pregroove may be illustratively carried out by Bi-phase modulating the control information and wobbling the pregroove in response to signals obtained from frequency-modulation of thus Bi-phase modulated information. For example, the control information including the disk-compatibility information may be stored on the pregroove in a lead-in area of the medium. The subcode data including the disk-compatibility information may be stored on pre-pits in a lead-in area of the medium.
According to another embodiment of this invention, the disk drive apparatus may reproduce the disk-compatibility information from the medium so that the medium can be correctly handled on the basis of the disk-compatibility information. When the apparatus determines that the medium would be unavailable for handling, based on the disk-compatibility information, it stores and reproduces no data on and from the medium.
Thus, this avoids writing the data on the fast CD-RW when it is erroneously loaded onto the slow CD-RW drive apparatus, thereby preventing failure such as an error in data recording and a crash of its recording layer from occurring.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention may be realized by reference to the following portions of the specification and drawings.